In this white paper we describe challenges embracing HPC based engineering simulation into the product development processes from a manufacturing industry standpoint and offers solutions to address them.

Manufacturing organizations are looking for newer ways to reduce product development cycle time by harnessing innovation, to survive in a dynamic and fast-changing market.As product complexity has increased, the challenges in performance evaluation have also grown in parallel.

Engineering simulation, a key aspect of virtual product development, has been in existence for a long time in various businesses. It is now being extended to all phases of product development and also being implemented by suppliers as well.

Simulation driven product development – Current statusLeading industries have imbibed virtual product development methods and future-ready evaluation strategies. They have enhanced product development with the advent of HPC. These companies have aligned their investments on virtual simulation and HPC to achieve their objectives on cost, time, and quality.

At the same time, there are other enterprises using the mentioned technologies in an unstructured manner. They are unable to match the product development efficiency or profitability of the best-in-class companies.

Challenges EncounteredThe multiple challenges faced in embracing simulation driven product development can be divided between the concerns of the management and those of users, with fewer observed challenges jointly shared by both. This is due to separate goals and non-aligned measurement of returns of these two parties. While the engineering simulation groups look forward to continuous investment in software, hardware and talent to meet future challenges, the management team has concerns that engineering simulation requires long gestation periods before the realization of benefits.

HPC and Simulation Driven Product development – Unlocking the potentialHPC based engineering simulation has the potential to offer key differentiators in product development, including speed to market, enhanced product reliability, and faster incremental development.

To adopt this effectively, a recommended approach for manufacturing enterprises could include the following solution elements:

Standardize processes for repeatability and reproducibility

Support global operations by using HPC technologies

Promote automation to enhance productivity

Organizational change management aligned to business goals

Measure benefits for prospective investment in future

The organizational or business mandate should serve as the roadmap for engineering organizations. This would help combat obsolescence and increase the productive usage of the computational facility. HPC based engineering simulation has a remarkable potential which must be integrated into the development processes of an organization and aligned to its business initiatives.